New dataset tracks 88,000 European scholars from 1200-1793 to measure pre-industrial elite

Researchers have published a new annual time-series dataset tracking approximately 88,000 university professors and academy members across Europe from 1200 to 1793. The dataset, called RETE, measures individual 'human capital' using a composite index derived from scholars' digital footprints in sources like VIAF, Wikipedia, and Wikidata. The project aims to fill a gap in measuring upper-tail, knowledge-producing elites before the Industrial Revolution, moving beyond aggregate proxies. It was funded by a European Research Council grant and stops in 1793 to avoid conflating long-term trends with the disruptive effects of the French Revolution. The data reveals patterns like the 'Little Divergence' between Northern and Southern Europe and the impacts of the Black Death and the Thirty Years' War.